Travelpro Maxlite 5 Lightweight 26" Expandable Rollaboard (2-Wheeled)

I love the weight of the Lightweight 26" Expandable, which was my primary reason for purchasing it, but having used it for a 2-week trip to Central and South America, I am disappointed that it already has a broken piece, specifically an exterior support piece on the bottom. I also wish it had four wheels, but that would be more weight, right? ;-) A really nice feature is the large exterior zippered pouch.

I travel a lot, domestic and international, for business and holidays, and I have always liked Travelpro luggage for its durability (I own an 18" and 22" Flightcrew 5 and a Platinum Elite Business backpack). Up to this point, I have been using my 22" for international travel, but it was always not quite large enough, so I decided to buy a larger check-in bag. The 26" Maxlite is a lot bigger than the 22" with not a lot of frills. I am finding that it is best used with packing cubes. The only thing I hate about travelpro is their wheels; they are not durable especially if rolling on uneven pavement or on hard street surfaces. Travelpro wheels just disintegrate. There is nothing worse than wheels falling apart when you are on a trip (it happened to me with my 22" and I ended up having to carry my luggage for the rest of the trip). I have replaced all my Travelpro bags with inline skate wheels and they are so much better both in durability and rollability. I don't understand why Travelpro hasn't changed its wheel design to inline polyurethane skate wheels. So I went ahead and replaced the wheels; although the Maxlite design makes it much harder to replace with non-OEM wheels (I am guessing Travelpro did this by design so users were stuck with using their wheels). I was ultimately able to source non-OEM wheels that worked brilliantly.

Light-weight as advertised.

My current Travelpro Maxlite 5 Lightweight Expandable Rollaboard is 24" and just the right size to pack with no more than 50 pounds, but that size is no longer available in two wheels. Too bad, because the 26" is really too big. I'm going to have to be really careful not to fill it too full!
I travel a lot, and Travelpro works better and lasts longer than other brands I've tried. But after many years of multiple trips a year, it does wear out!

These are light indeed - we noticed how easy it was to pick up while still in the box they came in. Just 5.1lbs so it's 2-3lbs lighter than our old ones they replaced when we compared. On int'l trips for 3-4 weeks stays the extra pounds matter. The wheels are medium size and good rubbery feel to them - not just hard plastic like cheaper ones so they should absorb bumps and roll smoother over pavement. Not quite as well made looking at our Crew 11 Spinner Totes which feel and looks a notch above (including the handle). I looked into if these wheels can be upgraded with rollerblades wheels but it doesn't have the width clearance. We bought the rollaboard vs 4 wheels because of cobblestones overseas otherwise would have gone with the 4 wheels instead of easy movement in airports. My only wish was the bottom grip handle was plastic like they are with the Crew. On these it's just part of the nylon material making an overlap to sneak your fingers into - so it's very seamless and nicely designed actually (at first we didn't even noticed it) but with 50lbs inside I could see it becoming a weak point after a dozen trips by the airport crew. The material overall is nice and water resistance - a nice subtle pattern to them too. Such an upgrade over our old ones and given these are check-in luggages we didn't go with the Crew as we're older now, but if you travel often enough and still young (under 40), I may tell you go with the Crew for more lifetime durability.